


Never Say Die

by EllieMurasaki



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Community: spn_bitesized, Episode: s06e22 The Man Who Knew Too Much, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-12
Updated: 2011-09-12
Packaged: 2017-10-24 05:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMurasaki/pseuds/EllieMurasaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel tries to bribe Dean and Sam into loving him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Say Die

John's standing in a graveyard, looking at his two grown sons and the corpse of Azazel's host.

John's driving down a highway, his two young sons in the back seat of the Impala.

John's standing in a room with his two grown sons, Bobby Singer, and a man John doesn't recognize. There's blood splattered on the walls.

"Cas, _stop_ ," Dean says.

The stranger—Cas—says, "What about your mother?" And abruptly, Mary's there. John moves to stand between her and the danger he suspects Cas poses.

"John?" Mary asks in a whisper. "What's going on?"

"Our boys grew up," John whispers back. "That's all I know."

Then Adam, _Adam_ 's there, and it hurts to think of Mary on a hunt but John sacrificed a hell of a lot to keep monsters away from his youngest boy. Adam looks around the room, finds Sam, and runs to his side. Oh God, that means the boys know about each other.

"Cas, _stop_ , I am begging you," Dean says, choking as though he's crying.

Sam says something, but John can't hear what. Adam nods. "Kate Milligan," Sam says louder. "Ellen. Jo. Jessica Moore. Rufus Turner."

Assuming the elderly black man is Rufus Turner, everyone Sam names appears. (Jo Harvelle got tall.) Dean stares at Sam, his expression hidden by the angle.

"What's happening?" Ellen demands.

"Karen Singer, Leah Turner, the girls Ruby possessed," Sam says, and one by one four women appear.

Adam slams a palm against the wall, and with a flash of white light, Cas vanishes.

"Everybody run!" Dean orders, and without thought John obeys. Sam trips and goes down, Adam catches him (there's blood on Adam's hand), and John's heading for them but Dean gets there first and tosses Sam onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Dean charges through the crowd, leading the way outside. The Impala's upside down; there's another car parked nearby. "Get the car flipped back over!" Dean yells, rifling Sam's pocket; he comes up with keys he tosses to Bobby.

That damn car is heavy, but there's enough warm bodies around to get it right side up. Dean waves Adam into the front seat, slides Sam in beside him, and goes around to the driver's side; Bobby's loading up the other car with Ellen, Jo, Rufus, the mature white woman, and the young black woman. Mary, Jessica, Kate, and the two young white women climb into the back of the Impala, and John gets Mary on his lap. Dean doesn't give the car any time to warm up, just floors it as soon as the doors are closed. Bobby's car follows them out.

"All right, Van Halen," Mary says as soon as the car's on a road. "Tell me what the hell is going on." Mary doesn't swear as a rule, and who is she addressing?

"My name's not Van Halen," Dean says, which answers that question and raises a dozen more. "You all just got brought back to life by a superpowered angel who thinks he's God. And the apocalypse the yellow-eyed demon was trying to start has come and gone. Welcome to 2012."

"You're crazy," Jessica says.

"He's not," Sam says. "I am. He's not."

"Shut up," Dean says. "Mary, how about you explain to the ladies the concept of 'hunter'."

John had already known, of course, but it still hurts like burning to hear Mary tell her war stories. Jessica refutes every word, and the young blonde chimes in with confirming detail—"oh fuck I forgot," she says, "Ruby's working with Lilith," and "we know," Sam and Dean say in chorus.

Jessica and the young brunette are still arguing in favor of rationality, Jessica from the 'angels don't interfere in human affairs' perspective and the brunette from the 'angels aren't real' perspective and both from the 'monsters aren't real' perspective, when Dean pulls up in front of a rundown house that Mary apparently recognizes. "Your sons are Campbells," Dean points out. "Don't act surprised."

Explanations, once the other half of the crowd has joined them and Dean and Bobby have painted arcane symbols in blood all around the room and Sam has collapsed into seizures twice (Adam turns him on his side and cushions his head with Adam's thigh, Jessica demands to know who has a phone with which she can call 911, and Dean keeps looking at Sam but keeps painting), take several hours.

Demons. Angels, which John had been sure weren't real. Archangels, who are apparently all dead or imprisoned. The end of the world that wasn't teh end. Civil war in Heaven. Heaven working with Hell against Purgatory. Time travel, and that's the one that really gets John, because not only did Dean convince him to buy the Impala, but Sam met Colt. John would have _loved_ to be along on that trip.

And for bonus points, everyone in the room is fucked, because Dean has met reapers and the reapers said returning from death fucks one over.

"So now our major problem is how to defuse the ticking time bomb that is the angel that shall not be named," Dean winds up. "And then our major problem will be how to deal with all the monster ghosts, because I don't think we can get the door to purgatory back open."

"World full of hunters," Mary says, and John agrees.

"Rumor has it Sam can exorcise demons with his mind," Jo says, and John looks at her, then Sam.

"Couple years ago, Rumor was right," Dean says. "But it only works when he's stoned, and he's clean. It only works on demons, which these souls aren't. And it only works on a few at a time. We're talking millions of souls, at least."

"We don't know that," Adam says. "We don't know _any_ of that." Sam nods.

"And I am dead certain that trying would _kill_ him," Dean finishes, glaring at Adam, who shuts up.

"I don't care," Sam says.

"I do!"

"We'll figure something out," Mary says, calmingly.

"How about we figure out how to get me _home_ ," says the young brunette. Jessica and the young blonde agree.

"Sweetheart, you've been missing persons for at least four years," Dean says. "And you—" He turns to the young blonde. "You're reported deceased and if you were known to be alive you'd be wanted for several murders. And you—" He turns to Jessica. "I touched what the fire left of your corpse and I was at your funeral." He looks at Mary. "Your home isn't even _there_ anymore. Getting any of you home is not going to be simple."

"I didn't say I wanted to go home," Mary says.

"How about we finish this discussion in the morning," Ellen says. "We're as safe as we're getting, and we can talk things to death when we've all had some sleep."

"I'll take first watch," John says.

"So will I," Mary says. Ellen and Jo claim second, Rufus and Bobby third, which everyone agrees will get them through the rest of the night. The various and assorted settle down, Adam curled up with Kate (something's happened there that John isn't sure he wants to know about), Leah next to her father, Ellen and Jo back to back. Dean recruits John to help a mattress downstairs for Sam, in case he has another seizure, and when exactly Sam started having seizures hasn't been discussed.

Sam doesn't sleep. Dean doesn't even try. He and John lay out the details of the past thirty years for Mary; she hates hearing it, John can tell, but she's determined not to let it show.

"And now I'm going to have to kill my best friend," Dean concludes. "I don't know _how_ , but...he's a monster, he's absofuckinglutely batshit, he has to be put down, and I don't know if I can this time..."

John scoots over and pulls Dean into a one-armed hug. 'Best friend', he suspects from how often Cas's pseudonym came up in the discussion, is a completely inadequate description, and even if it's the truth, Dean's obviously going to be devastated by the loss; the only thing at this point, John thinks, that could hit Dean harder is losing Sam.

Mary hugs Dean from the other side, awkwardly; no way is she adjusted yet to this grown man being the same young boy she promised was being watched over by angels. Sam rolls off his mattress and envelops all three in his long arms.


End file.
